1. The General Teaching Council for England Race Equality Forum 7 March 2008 A GTCE perspective Sarah Jennings, Policy Adviser

2. The General Teaching Council for England GTCE position The GTC believes that an individuals suitability to teach should be determined by that persons ability to meet the conduct and competence standards and to support childrens learning and achievement.

3. The General Teaching Council for England GTC Work The GTC does not make an assessment of the health and physical standards: of those applying for QTS for registration with the Council as part of the regulatory casework in its role as the induction appeals body

4. The General Teaching Council for England Fitness to Teach The GTC does not apply the Fitness to Teach guidance. But we do have an interest in it, as GTC registrants are determined by the initial and then subject to the ongoing application of Fitness to Teach.

5. The General Teaching Council for England Response to the DRC report The GTC has concerns that the Fitness to Teach guidance may deter good teachers of the future from joining the profession Judgements about health or disability should not be an obstacle. Instead reasonable adjustments need to be made that enable disabled people to enter and thrive in teaching. The GTC promotes the development of a climate which leads to disclosure of disability,and in turns lead to support and provision of reasonable adjustment.

6. The General Teaching Council for England Teachers who register by application form are asked to indicate if they consider they have a disability. Data is also collected via the College Exit process. Teachers are not required to provide this information. Just over one thousand teachers 1087 have told us they have a disability (as defined). This is 0.2% of registered teachers. These proportions do not provide a reliable indication of the disability of registered teachers. Disability data from the GTCE register

7. The General Teaching Council for England Improving disability data coverage We have good information about teachers who started their careers in the last 5 years. Pilot exercise with 6800 considered response rates using different collection methods. Last week a diversity data collection form was sent to 400 000 teachers, with the GTC magazine. But we still need a climate which is conducive to disclosure.

8. The General Teaching Council for England Disabled Teacher Taskforce Remit The GTC established the Disabled Teacher Taskforce in order to: · Highlight the inequality of opportunity for disabled individuals in entering the teaching profession; Raise awareness of the current policies and practices that cause difficulties for disabled students to access teacher training; Encourage national organisations to act on removing barriers and promoting opportunities for disabled people entering the teaching profession, either unilaterally or through collaborative projects; Develop a programme of action, which ensures that national partners are able to make progress leading to fewer barriers and more opportunities for people with disabilities entering the profession.

9. The General Teaching Council for England